From a Tribe Called Quest

DJ/Producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad is known around the world as one-third of the legendary hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, but he began his musical career in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York. It was there that his uncle, Michael Jones, a bass player and DJ himself, pulled aside 8-year-old Ali and began teaching him music. Ali then spent years DJ-ing parties in his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and recorded a slew of demos before co-founding Tribe in 1985 with Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Jarobi. He was just 19 when the group released its first album, People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, in 1990, and four more followed: The Low End Theory (released in 1991); Midnight Marauders (1993); Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996); and The Love Movement (1998). All went either gold or platinum, with The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders both widely considered hip-hop classics. The group’s socially conscious lyrics – coupled with their unique production: heavy on jazz, funk and ’70s rock samples – helped push it to the forefront of rap, and scores of current artists/producers, including Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Will.I.Am, cite Tribe as an influence. (source:alishaheed.com)BACK TO THE LINE-UP